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Property Values
Celine Dion's Taxes Will Go On
Dion's new home is one of many multimillion-dollar estates on Jupiter Island
Singer Celine Dion’s new home is one of many multimillion-dollar estates on Jupiter Island, which accounts for 11% of Martin County’s property valuation. [Photo: Splash News] |
Dion’s home came onto the local tax roll this year at $6.758 million. Coupled with the value of the land, the Dion estate comes to $16.86 million in taxable value. It helped drive the tiny town of Jupiter Island, on the barrier island where Dion makes her home, to $1.92 billion in taxable value. With a population under 700 and just 535 or so homes, the town accounts now for nearly 11% of the county’s total property valuation, says Martin County Property Appraiser Laurel Kelly. Property in the town is valued at more than all of nearby Stuart, a city of 16,000 people.
With Greg Norman’s home on the market for $65 million, Jupiter Island’s reputation as one of the richest places in America remains intact. Still, Jupiter Island isn’t bubble-proof. CEOs awash with cash gobbled up property mid-decade. Then sales stalled with the global economy. While sales returned in 2009 and are keeping pace in 2010, values are off a solid 35% from the peak, says Adrian Reed, broker-agent with real estate firm Fenton, Lang Bruner & Associates.
Dion’s house was the largest project in a county that overall saw a 10% drop in the value of new construction in 2010 and a 58% drop from 2008, Kelly says. In more good news for Martin taxpayers, Tiger Woods’ new 9,000-sq.-ft. palace should be done in time for next year’s tax roll. Woods spent $44 million just for his 12 acres.
The big projects aren’t impacting the island’s look. Large lots and heavy landscaping requirements keep builders from spoiling the neighbors’ view — and from letting fans gawk.
In mid-June, 61 properties on the island were for sale, in line with the historical pattern, Reed says. The long-term outlook is excellent, he says. “It’s never going to go back to being a forgotten backwater. There’s no place like it. It’s a fantastic and unique community.”